By The Straits Times | Created at 2024-10-29 22:22:59 | Updated at 2024-10-30 05:25:24
14 hours ago
NEW DELHI – China and India have nearly completed the process of withdrawing troops and dismantling temporary structures like guard posts in two areas along a disputed border where their troops once faced off.
This comes after the two countries hammered out a new patrolling agreement, which was endorsed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi when they met on the sidelines of the Brics summit in Kazan, Russia, on Oct 23.
Apart from both sides withdrawing their troops – which had previously stood eyeball to eyeball in Depsang and Demchok in the Ladakh region – the “disengagement” involved the removal of structures such as temporary guard posts and sheds, sources with knowledge of the developments along the border told The Straits Times.
The two countries are understood to have agreed on the areas where each side’s troops could patrol. As part of confidence-building measures, they agreed to inform each other of the movements of their respective patrols.
The Indian Express newspaper, quoting army sources, said patrolling would be done by small parties of troops numbering around 10 to 15 soldiers.
Sources told ST the two countries also agreed to keep lines of communication open at different levels of the army to “take care of day-to-day activities” and prevent any untoward incident.
Under the latest pact, the patrolling rights for both countries in Depsang and Demchok were restored to what they had been before a border row erupted in 2020 and a subsequent stand-off stopped patrols.
India and China have border disputes at multiple points along their largely undefined 3,440km border.
In April 2020, tensions started building up as India accused China of changing the status quo or moving beyond where the Chinese troops usually patrolled in a number of spots.
China in turn accused India of incursions.
Tensions boiled over into skirmishes on June 15 with both sides suffering fatalities in the Galwan Valley in the Ladakh region, which led to a troop build-up on both sides.
Between 2021 and 2022, following multiple rounds of border talks, the countries pulled back their troops and created buffer zones to separate them in Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso and Gogra Heights. Sources said a patrolling moratorium would continue in these areas.
Due to disagreements over the terms of the disengagement, it has taken two years more for China and India to withdraw their troops from Depsang and Demchok.
Despite the latest agreement, the two countries are seen to have a long way to go to restore normalcy in ties.
Investment and business links between them have been affected by the border dispute, even though trade ties continued to strengthen.
The disengagement of troops is “a valuable first step” towards repairing ties between the two countries, said Professor C. Raja Mohan, visiting research professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies.
“The prolonged chill of the four years has been broken. It opens up space for diplomacy and political dialogue,” he said.
He added that the difficulty is that “several follow-up steps need to be taken”, including reducing the troop strength along the border.
“The issue of building trust on the border remains,” he said.
